Following the dismissal of her husband Timothy Busfield’s sexual abuse charges, Melissa Gilbert shared a cryptic post on Instagram that appeared to reference the court’s decision.
The “Little House on the Prairie” actress shared a photo on Instagram Friday featuring a quote from “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory”: “So shines a good deed in a weary world.” She also shared a link to The New York Times’ report on the dismissal in her Instagram Stories.
Busfield, who pleaded not guilty to four felony counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor in February, repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the case. A warrant for Busfield’s arrest was issued Jan. 9 following allegations that he had inappropriate sexual contact with two 11-year-old boys while working as director and executive producer on “The Cleaning Lady” in October 2022 and September 2023. He surrendered to authorities Jan. 13.
New Mexico Judge Joseph Montano ruled Friday that the case should be dismissed because the prosecuting attorney did not “act in a fair and impartial manner.”
“The prosecuting attorney failed to act in a fair and impartial manner, including the failure to properly instruct the grand jury on the law for calling witnesses and in instructing the grand jurors on a procedure that effectively withheld requested witnesses,” Montano wrote. “In doing so, the grand jury proceedings were conducted in a manner that violated grand jury statutes designed to protect the structural integrity of our grand jury system and the presumption of prejudice applies.”
“Tim said from the beginning that he was innocent,” Busfield’s attorney Larry Stein said in a statement following the dismissal. “That he would fight to prove his innocence. And he did.”
The DA’s office now has time to “institute new criminal proceedings” should they choose.
Gilbert remained steadfastly by Busfield’s side. In April, she spoke with “GMA” anchor George Stephanopoulos alongside Busfield’s civil attorney, Larry Stein. At the time, she maintained that she was “100% confident he will be exonerated.”
“He is nothing if not completely honest with me. I trust him with my children’s lives, with my grandchildren’s lives, my nieces and nephews,” Gilbert said. “He is — he is an honorable, caring, generous human being.”
“Our life as we knew it is done. We are grieving what we had,” Gilbert said. “All of our plans, all of our dreams, all of our ideas, all of our projects. For Tim, it’s done. He’s canceled … even if he’s exonerated, he will always be that guy. The last person in the world who would hurt a child.”
“And believe me, if I thought for a second that Tim Busfield hurt a child, he’d have a lot more to worry about than prison,” she concluded.
Representatives for Gilbert did not immediately return TheWrap’s request for comment.
